Family Values
by Mr Sinister
Summary: Rebecca Braddock and Sam Guthrie have invited Sam's old X-Force team-mates to the mansion to meet their new baby, with a few surprising guests.


**_Family Values_**

"Oh my _God_, Sam! You didn't tell me she was this cute!"

The girl that my memory implants tell me is called Tabitha Smith – or Meltdown, if she's in uniform – has just been introduced to my little two-week-old baby girl, Hannah, and judging from her reaction, she's very impressed. She and the rest of X-Force (and my big brother Nathan) arrived at the mansion about half an hour ago, after they'd all been given an invitation to see Sam's new baby. Of course, because we can almost never guarantee to find X-Force quickly when they're off on a mission somewhere, Sam and I had to ask the Professor to contact Nathan with Cerebro, rather than just posting a letter to them at their new HQ in San Francisco. It took him about an hour, but he got the invitation through in the end; and judging from the reaction of Sam's old friends, it seems like it was worth it.

Tabitha coos softly at Hannah for a moment or two, offering my baby a finger to grasp so that she can say hello, and then looks up at me, a bright, toothy smile spread across her face. "So you're the famous Rebecca Braddock, huh?" she asks. "Nice to finally meet the woman Sam tells me about in every letter he writes." She kisses me on the cheek and grins. "You've got a lot to live up to, sweetie, let me tell you."

"It's… it's nice to meet you too," I say, a little taken aback. _You write letters about me?_ I send to Sam, feeling a touch worried that I've been turned into a news item.

_Don't worry, Bec, I only say good things,_ Sam thinks back to me, winking. _I promise._

I'm not entirely convinced by that statement, but I decide to ignore it for the moment and concentrate on our new visitors. Getting up from my seat, I hold my baby's tiny form out to the other girl, trying my hardest to give her a reassuring smile (I'm still learning which facial expressions are better for certain jobs than others. Sometimes it works – and, well… sometimes it doesn't). "Would you like to say hello? She likes new people."

"How about an old person?" comes a reassuringly masculine voice from behind me. I turn, knowing who it is before I start moving, and when I finish my movement I'm looking into the weathered, scarred face and deep brown eyes of my big brother. When I see him, I do my best not to shriek with excitement and throw my arms around him before handing Hannah to Sam. After that, though, all bets are off…

"Nathan!" I cry, hugging him tightly and pressing my head against his wall-like chest like a child welcoming home a parent. "You came!"

Smiling roughly, Nathan kisses me on the forehead and ruffles my hair out of its carefully-combed ponytail. "Of course I came, kid. You think I'd pass up the chance to see my new niece?" Then he nods to Tabitha. "What do you think of the little one, Tab?"

"I think she's great, boss-man," Tabitha replies. "You should see her when she yawns – it's the cutest thing in the whole world."

Nathan laughs, a little bitterly. "I forgot that about kids. Been too long since I've seen a baby just… being a baby."

Sam looks at me for a moment, then steps up to his former leader and says "Um… sir? Do you want to hold her?" Cable blinks, his thoughts telling me that he's surprised that anybody would trust him with a child, especially considering the amount of guns he has strapped to his body at this moment. "It's no trouble, sir," Sam continues, gently holding Hannah out to Nathan so that she won't get too upset at being moved about. "Just be yourself, and she'll love you."

Nathan laughs again, a little more lightly this time, and says "Sam, you of all people should know that if I did that, she'd never talk to me again." Still, he does hold out his arms and take Hannah close to his muscular chest, with more care than I've ever seen him display before. It's at that moment that I can see a tiny, uncharacteristic tear beading at the corner of his eye, glittering in the bright light of the room like a star. Nathan notices me reaching out a hand to him in concern, and he shrugs me away, obviously sensing my feelings before I'm fully aware of them myself. "It's nothing, Rebecca. She just reminds me of Tyler, that's all."

"Your son?" I say (for once glad for the information my memory implants can give to me), and Nathan nods, looking sad again.

"Yeah. Yeah, that's him. I'll tell you right here, Rebecca, you really ought to value every moment you have with this little one. You never know when it might all be taken away."

"Getting sentimental, old man?" Tabitha chuckles, before she sucks down a mouthful of beer from the long-necked bottle in her hand. "You want to watch that – you might start making a habit of it."

"I doubt that, somehow," Cable says, snorting in barely-veiled disgust. "And if you ever suggest anything like that again, I'll set the Six Pack on you."

"Ooh, threats. That's more like the Cable I know," Tabitha replies, putting her beer-bottle down on the nearest table and kicking her left leg over the knee of her right, sliding her hands behind her head and belching contentedly. "What?" she says, looking shocked that the rest of us have even taken any notice of her doing it. "Like none of _you_ have ever done that."

"Oh, _please_, kiddo," Domino says as she pads her way around the chairs in the rec. room so that she can slide down next to Nathan, her slender body flexing and twisting like a tightly coiled spring with every step, "that was amateur hour next to some of the noises the Six Pack and I used to make after a few bottles of rocket fuel. Isn't that right, Nate?"

"Absolutely," Nathan agrees. "You've got a long way to go, Tab. Keep practicing."

And as if to emphasise Nathan's point for him, Domino lets rip with a burp that virtually echoes through the entire room, causing every head in listening distance to turn in her direction. She doesn't act as if anything is wrong; instead she simply grins broadly and mockingly puts both of her feet up on the coffee table in front of her with her hands behind her head, just as Tabitha did. Then she looks over at Tabitha and says "See, now _that_ is how you do that, Tab. Stop aiming so small." Then, ignoring Tabitha's black glare, she looks over at Cable and my baby, and she grins again, like a shark bearing down on a scrap of meat. "You know, Nate… I should leave you holding the baby more often. You look sweet."

Cable scowls. "Don't get too used to this, Dom – it's not like I plan on making this a regular hobby, after all."

Domino chuckles. "Oh, I don't know… I quite fancy the idea of settling down and popping out a few little Nates. Doesn't that appeal to you?" She leans over and licks his stubbly cheek mischievously. "I bet I could make it worth your while, stud…"

"Oh, get a room, you two," says a voice from over my shoulder. Craning my neck around so that I can see who it, I find myself looking at a tall, dark-skinned Native American girl, her black hair kept in check by a red headband with a small circled-X motif in its centre. Tied to her back is a bow without a string, and she herself is dressed in cut-off blue jeans that end just below her hips and a red short-sleeved shirt. Seeing me looking at her, she smiles, and bends at the knees so that she's at my eye level. "Hi," she says, in a friendly sort of way. "You must be Rebecca – Sam's told us all about you in his letters. My name's –"

"Dani Moonstar," I finish without thinking, before inwardly cursing myself for doing it. Again, my memory implants are taking over for me, just when I wish they wouldn't. Even if it does make introductions quicker, it still makes me feel like I'm not normal. I mean, I know I'm not normal anyway, but this virtually underlines it in great red strokes, and I really don't need that – and especially not now. To my surprise, though, Dani doesn't do anything but grin, just like Tabitha did, and then she circles my seat and waits for me to get up before she embraces me and kisses me on the cheek.

"Sam warned us all you'd probably do that, too," she laughs. "Um… you're not going to reel off a description of all our powers during dinner, are you?"

"Well, I _could_ do that, but finding that many memories that fast usually gives me a headache," I say, feeling myself become totally relaxed even though I've only been talking to Dani for a few moments. I think this must be why Sam likes this girl so much. Dani laughs again, and then finds herself a seat in one of the unoccupied chairs close to where Cable, Tabitha and Domino have sat down.

"So this is Hannah, huh?" Dani says, looking down at the tiny, fur-covered shape in Nathan's arms. "Sam emailed us some pictures of her, but seeing her in person like this… wow. She's like…" She pauses uncertainly. "Um… do you know who Simba is?"

"Yes," I say, relieved that I can finally answer a question _without_ needing my memory implants. It's a nice feeling. "Mum bought that DVD for my little brother a while back, so I know who Simba is. Although she looks more like Nala, if you think about it – I don't think she's going to get a mane any time soon, do you?"

"I guess not," Dani admits, smiling. "One reason to be thankful for a little brother, I suppose." She pauses. "Hey, is he anywhere around? I'd like to meet him as well while I have the chance. If that's okay with your mom, of course."

"I should think so, Danielle," says my mum's voice as she enters through the main double doors, followed by a little blue shape in red dungarees and a white t-shirt, with some tiny blue Weeboks on his little feet. "Be careful, darling," she says to my little brother as he runs excitedly around the room – almost as if he's eaten a huge packet of Hank's Twinkies. "You don't know these people very well –"

"'lo," Tom says bashfully, looking shyly up at Dani with his big blue eyes. "'M Tom."

"My name's Dani," Dani says, offering him her hand. "Nice to meet you, Tom. Are you here to tell me about Hannah?"

Tom's face lights up, a big grin plastering itself across his chubby cheeks. "She's m' niece."

"Oh, wow," Dani replies, putting a hand to her chest and trying her hardest to look surprised. "This is _your_ niece? But you're only a little boy! How can that be?"

"Silly," Tom replies, giggling. "'M not her _daddy!_" Then he takes a soggy finger out of his mouth and points to Sam. "_That's_ her daddy!"

"Yes, I heard," Dani laughs, winking at her old team-mate without saying a word. "So do you play with Hannah a lot?"

"No," Tom says, sounding disappointed. "She's too small to do that. Mummy says 'm not allowed."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to see if we can change your mommy's mind, won't we?" Dani tells him, putting her hands on her hips in indignation. "You want to help me do that?"

"Yay!" Tom cries, clapping his hands happily.

_Looks like Tom's made a new friend,_ I send to my mum in amusement.

_It certainly seems that way, doesn't it, button?_ Mum replies, a smile spreading across her face as she watches my little brother hopping excitedly from foot to foot. "Dani, I'm sure Tom wouldn't mind if you took him out into the garden and played catch with him – would you, sweetheart?"

Tom shakes his head excitedly, and then grabs Dani by the hand and leads her towards the sliding door that leads out into the mansion's grounds. "Come on!" he says as he presses the button that retracts the door, causing a gust of cold wind to enter the room. Hannah whimpers a little at the sudden drop in temperature, so I take her back from my big brother and press her slightly more closely to my body while gathering her blanket around her a little tighter. She stops keening then, and begins to purr contentedly – and that sound gets louder when the door slides closed of its own accord, and the room's temperature returns to normal.

"Nice to see you again, Nathan," Mum says, smiling as she holds out her hand for him to shake. He takes it and grips it firmly for a moment or two. "I'm sorry Warren isn't here, but he had a board meeting to go to, and couldn't make it."

Nathan grins. "Sounds about right; I wasn't exactly expecting him to put up with me."

"I wasn't either," I say, returning Nathan's smile with about twice the enthusiasm. "Dad said he didn't want to end up getting shot in the wing again if he got into an argument with you."

"You know, I keep telling him that that wasn't me, it was Stryfe," Nathan sighs. "Guess he just doesn't want to listen, huh?"

"Well," Mum begins, "he did tell me once that his mind _knows_ it wasn't you, but his wings tend to disagree. In his words: 'he sees you, he sees the guy who shot him – end of story'."

"Hmm," Cable says thoughtfully. "I suppose that's a good enough reason to worry needlessly."

"You could always just shoot him in the wing and give him a _real_ reason to worry about that," says Bobby DaCosta jovially, who until recently had been watching his new _Magnum, P.I._ DVDs on the big screen television that's sat in the corner of the rec. room. He told me earlier that he'd only just bought them in New York, and wanted to test them out – and Sam told me about how often the New Mutants had had to put up with Bobby watching the show the first time around. "Or you could set Caliban on him, I guess." He jerks a thumb towards where the grey-skinned giant is sat cross-legged playing _Halo_ with the other Bobby, Bobby Drake – and winning, it looks like, even though his hands are about two sizes too big for the controller he's using. I suppose I'll have to torment Bobby about that later (he'd be horrified if I didn't do that to another member of the team, so I think it's time for him to… what's the expression… taste a little of his own medicine. He'll love that, I'm sure…).

Cable raises an eyebrow. "I didn't think you were the sadistic sort, Roberto." He sounds like Hank when he's telling me about how I'm not eating right – that is, he sounds like he's disappointed. Bobby shrugs.

"Hey, it was just an idea," he says. "What do you think, Sam?"

"Me?" Sam says, sounding surprised to be included in this little debate. "I reckon settin' Caliban on anybody is pretty extreme. Could always just put chilli powder in his underwear or somethin', I guess."

"Sam!" I exclaim, doing my best to sound shocked and appalled. "That's your future father-in-law you're talking about!"

"I have to concur," Mum agrees, as she puts her glass of white wine down on the table in front of her. "If anybody wants to try that, I'm afraid they'll have to go through me first."

"So it's settled – itching power it is then," Cable says with a chuckle, before he turns to me and continues "You have any idea about the best place to leave it, Rebecca?"

"I don't know, Cable, and that's the truth," I say, sticking my tongue out, before Hannah starts wailing. I close my eyes for a second so that I can see what she wants, and then look back in my half-brother's direction. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and feed my daughter, or she'll start screaming – and you don't want to hear that, I promise you. You crazy kids behave yourselves while I'm gone, okay?" _See you in a bit, Mum,_ I send to her. _Make sure they don't do anything they shouldn't._

_I'll do my best, button,_ Mum replies, taking another sip of her wine. _Don't take too long._

_We'll see how Hannah feels about that, I suppose,_ I laugh. _I'll call you if I need you._

Walking out of the double doors, I find my way to the main stairs of the Institute's front hall and start walking up to the room that Sam and I share. It's true, I could feed Hannah in the rec. room, but I prefer total privacy. I find feeding my child to be something I don't want to share with anybody else – it's something that we can keep between the two of us, and I want it to stay that way. Sam understands that, and he respects it.

Sitting down on the bed, I undo my blouse and let Hannah begin suckling gently. She gurgles contentedly as she feeds, and I can sense that she'd been waiting for this for quite a while, and had been pretty angry that she wasn't being fed straight away. I wait until she's totally finished, and then burp her gently before cradling her in my arms and gazing at her in awe. "You are so beautiful, Hannah," I whisper to her, wiping her mouth clean with a small scrap of tissue paper. "I hope you know that."

Suddenly, there is a sound like the air itself is tearing, and I look up, startled, to see a… a _hole_ in reality. The edges of it crackle like flames, and inside it I can see a whole other location – a base of some kind, which is filled with highly advanced technology. For an instant I'm afraid that Sinister has chosen this moment to try to take my baby away from me again, but then a six-foot creature with white skin and a blank face steps through the hole. The only distinguishing feature on its face is a perfectly circular black ring, and once it has stepped through the ring, it does nothing except stand to one side, its arms folded across its chest.

And it's at that point that my memory implants go wild. I feel my eyes rolling up into my head as my implants search their databanks in order to find the name of who – or what – it is that stands in front of me. It takes a little longer than I'd expected, and my head burns when it's over and I can finally look at the hole again.

"Zero," I say, a little out of breath. And it's then that somebody else steps through the hole, his armour clanking softly as he moves, and his helmet reflecting the light like a delicate crystal. When he hears me identifying his servant, he claps, his armoured gauntlets ringing as they strike each other.

"Well done," Stryfe says as he puts both of his metal-clad feet onto the carpet in my room, and the hole disappears behind him. "I see you have been told about me."

Ignoring his words, I scramble backwards, clutching Hannah to my chest and making to get out of my room as quickly as I can. From what Cable's told me, Stryfe is too much for a novice telepath to handle – even one who's been genetically-engineered, like I have. He doesn't have the techno-organic virus in his system like my big brother, and that makes him doubly dangerous. "Don't come any closer. The rest of the X-Men are just downstairs," I say, hearing the quaver of fear in my voice and hating myself for it. "They'll hear me if I call out to them, and they'll come kick your tin-plated butt back to –"

"Enough," Stryfe says, waving his hand and making my brave words die hollowly in my throat. "I'm not here to fight – not today, anyway." He smiles, the elaborate mask he's wearing not helping to reassure me in the slightest. "No, I just wanted to see my new niece."

"What?" I say, stunned. Everything I've heard about Stryfe from Nathan and X-Man says that this can't be him, that it has to be a fake, but his mind tells me that he's genuine, and that he's serious. He takes off his mask and lays it on the table behind him, and I'm stunned by the uncanny resemblance to Nathan – I mean, I knew they were genetically identical, but it's still a shock to see how close the likeness is. Stryfe smiles again, as if he's not surprised at all by my reaction, and then reaches out with one gauntleted hand so that he can brush his fingers against Hannah's tawny fur. I can feel my breath catching in my throat as he does so, and it's not a pleasant feeling.

"She's not like most Summers children, is she?" he says in genuine wonder. "I'd expected red hair and telepathy."

"How did you know?" I finally manage to blurt out. Stryfe's smile widens, and he shrugs.

"The mutant grapevine is shorter than you might think," he says, as if that's any kind of explanation at all. "Mutant A tells Mutant B something in confidence, and then Mutant B tells Mutants C, D, and E, and so on, and so on. So… well, here I am."

"Why?" My grip on Hannah hasn't wavered since Stryfe appeared, and I can hear her whimpering at how tightly I'm holding on. It breaks my heart to hear her making such a sound, but I'm not going to risk saving her from one madman, only to lose her to another in the space of a few short weeks.

"Full of questions, aren't we?" Stryfe chuckles, tapping his fingers against his armoured chestplate. "Strange as I know it may seem, I simply wanted to offer my congratulations. Is that so wrong?"

He has a point, I suppose. "No. No, I guess not."

"I thought you'd see it my way," he says. "I may hate my brother, I may hate Apocalypse, I may hate the Askani, and I may hate my father – but for today at least, I don't hate you or your daughter." He leans forward and presses something into my hand, his gauntlet cold against my skin. "Here. Consider this my gift to you and your child. It's not much, I know, but I have nothing else to give."

Opening my hand, I see that he has given me a piece of twisted metal, its edges melted smooth by intense heat. "I don't… I don't understand," I say, feeling genuinely confused.

"This is all I have left of my former life," Stryfe explains. "I was Apocalypse's chosen one. I was to be his new vessel, but when the time came for him to transfer himself into my body, he rejected me purely because I was a clone. Everything I had, he took away, in a _single instant._ This was a part of one of the presents he gave to me when I was growing up. One of his soldiers tore it from my hands and threw it into a fire – my last possession, and it was destroyed. This was all I managed to save of it, and… I want you to have it."

"Thank you," I say, feeling lost for words. Stryfe smiles, and then reaches for his helmet again, placing it back over his face as he walks towards the silent android Zero.

"Take me home, Zero," he mutters, his red cape flowing in the sudden blast of air that comes along with the opening of Zero's portal. Before he steps into the portal, he turns and bows at the waist. "Until next time, then. Tell Nathan I look forward to seeing him again."

All it takes is a few more seconds, and then he is gone. Glancing at the mangled nub of metal in my hand one more time, I take a few deep breaths and rock my daughter gently. How am I going to explain this, I wonder…


End file.
